Taking Jesus Seriously - Part II
Rereading my last post, I realize that I wasn't terribly focused. I went from Shane Claiborne to the righteous rich kid (aka "the rich young ruler") to God dealing with oppression throughout the Bible to a guilt trip because I'm in the classic oppressing group (white male American Republican evangelical Christian)...to trying to figure out how to battle oppression from within. Kind of a dizzying post, I must admit, so let me step back a bit and try to focus on two related questions: first, was Jesus serious when he spoke? ; and second, what would it mean for me if he really was serious? So, was Jesus serious when he spoke? I'm not talking about whether he was making jokes, but did he mean what he said? When he told the rich kid to sell everything, was he really asking the guy to do that, or was he exaggerating to make a point? When he said to turn the other cheek, did he mean it? Or when he said that you can't be his disciple if you don't hate your mom? I